Mamdani’s statement could easily be the opening line of the obituary for personal rights. If allowed to run amok, Mamdani’s inexperience combined with his arrogance will not solve any problems, nor will it save anyone or anything. In his haste to prove that his fascist communistic tactics are correct, he will damage the financial infrastructure of the city so badly that it will take years to repair, if ever.
Mamdani has recently doxed some of the most influential people in the city. According to a New York Post report, he published the full names and addresses of every property owner targeted by the state’s new pied-à-terre tax.
The city’s Department of Finance published a searchable database that covers all unoccupied, non-primary residences valued at over $1 million in the five boroughs.
Crain’s New York Business reports that the luxury tax on second homes would affect approximately 31,000 properties.
However, the post disagrees. They counted more than 960,000 residences and individuals potentially subject to the tax.
One nonprofit business executive, Steve Fulop, put it this way:
“Most of the people on that list aren’t billionaires by any stretch; they’re people that believed in NYC, worked hard, and bought a second home. All this does is make people feel less safe in their own city, and less welcome in it.”
Republican Council Minority Leader David Carr of Staten Island correctly called it a “reckless and foolish move.”
“All the mayor is doing is tanking the luxury home market in NYC and sending millions of dollars in real estate business to other states. But the upside is Mamdani is a shoo-in for ‘Realtor of the Year’ in Texas and Florida.”
Mamdani has not only been criticized for the tax itself, but also for the smart-ass tone in which he announced it. In a post on X, he delighted in this, his most recent folly.